Giraffe Chewing Bones

[Rachel Hollander]

As many of you know, giraffes, though herbivores, will suck/chew on a bone to get calcium and other nutrients from it. That's what this giraffe was doing and I really liked the extended neck and curve while it was doing so. Taken in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa.

Canon 7D2
100-400 II @ 200mm
1/640
f5.6
ISO 800
HH from safari vehicle, slight crop for comp, levels, curves, sharpened in CCPS.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Mike Poole]

Theres something about this frame that I really like, but finding it hard to put into words(!) I think it's the framing with the way the neck is arching, and the scale of the giraffe against the trees.

From a technical perspective, I think I'd have tried to slightly darken the lower jaw, as I find that area blending onto the sky a little.

Gorgeous light and a really nice frame.

Mike

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi Rachel, This is something I have not seen or heard before, so glad to see a new behavior. The image looks a bit bright to me especially the sky. I'd suggest going back to LR and reduce the brightness by may be -0.17EV, TFS. Loi

[haseeb badar]

Hi Rachel -- Thanks for sharing the info on its behaviour never knew about this fact . Nice pose and well timed to capture the moment . lovely warm hues to the image . I liked this one .

TFS !

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Hi Rachel. Unusual behaviour on display here. The pose of the Giraffe and the vertical comp work quiet well. Nice light too. TFS.

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Rachel a great behavior shot in some sweet warm light .:5
I really like the pose of the subject and i have seen this behavior numerous times in Etosha , once even a Giraffe that died because the bone got stuck in the jaw.......watched the Giraffe over days in a distance .
Lovely colors and tones in the image , might try to give the HL more tone as an alternative and see how it does look .
If there is a wishlist ...... i wish the tree/shrub on both sides would not have been there ..... but that is nature and not a problem at all at this stage .

TFS Andreas

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. As always, they are very much appreciated.

Rachel

[Morkel Erasmus]

Loving the arched pose and the light here, good low angle too.
I've seen other herbivores do this but still need to see a giraffe do it...